“What is the point of it? We are already married.”
Her finger clutched at the hair at his nape. “We do not know each other.”
“This is a marriage, duchess—there is nothing complex about it. People do it all the time.”
“I am aware of that.”
Ethan considered the way she worried her lip until it turned red. “What is this ‘getting to know each other’ about?”
“Are you not at all curious about me?”
“Nay.”
“Never say,” she gasped, affronted.
Ethan chuckled. “I suppose you are curious about me?”
Those beautiful blue eyes met his. “There are things I have wondered about, and perhaps worry about their future occurrence.”
He lifted a brow in question, and when she remained silent, he said, “Such as?”
“Rumors say you were caught in a particular countess’s bed by her husband.”
Bloody hell. It was his past reputation that concerned her? “There is some truth to the matter.”
Her eyes took on a gleam. “Those rumors also said her footman was there.”
Who the hell told an innocent debutante those things? Ethan hesitated slightly.
“In a marriage, there must always be honesty,” she said pertly. “I want to get to know you…to trust you.”
He heard the ache for something more, but he did not question it. Still, Ethan smiled inside, surprised at how her simple words tugged at something deep and unknown. He vowed to himself then he would never lie to her once she asked him a question. Yet there was knowledge he held deep inside that he would never willingly share with her, for they would expose his guilt, pain, and shame.
“The countess and I were already having an affair when I sneaked into her chamber unexpectedly. It seems she extended her charming favors to one of her footmen and had not anticipated my arrival that evening.”
His wife pondered on his words. “Was she very shocked you had caught them?”
“Very.”
“What did you do?”
He deliberately paused. “Took off my clothes and joined them.”
His duchess’s mouth parted, but no words came out, and then her cheeks pinkened. “And after such wicked adventures, will you be contented with a simple wife?”
He briefly kissed the corner of her mouth. “There is nothing simple about you, and I will be contented.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Ethan thought she might want to appear threatening, but his little wife only looked lovely.
“I am a crack shot,” she said. “And I know how to use a rapier.”
He mulled this over for a few seconds, secretly filled with humor. Given the fierceness of her expression, Ethan felt he dared not show his amusement. “Why must I be aware of this, Wife?”
“Should you dishonor our vows,” she sweetly said, “I will challenge both parties to a duel.”
Ethan laughed, thoroughly charmed by this bit of possessiveness.
“I am the jealous sort as well,” he drawled. “I would kill any man who dares even to think to touch you. Dear Wife, I believe we have found common grounds.”
A strangled sound came from her, and he kissed her, unable to stop the desire. Burning hunger licked through Ethan’s body like a living flame, and he nipped her lips, almost in punishment for eliciting such raw hunger in a normally disciplined body.
“Thank you,” she whispered, breaking their passionate kiss. “For what you did today. Though we marry in haste, I can always look back and say my wedding day was beautiful.”
That gratitude sat heavily on his chest, and he rejected it, for it was wholly undeserved. “I did nothing,” he said flatly. Then he kissed her again, robbing them both of thoughts as they rumbled toward their new fates.